The Wish List by Linda Leigh Hargrove

Author:Linda Leigh Hargrove [Hargrove, Linda Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Freddie turned her head and brushed her hair on the left side. “This time I’m walking to New Orleans,” she sang.

She hummed the rest of the song because she couldn’t remember the words. It was a wonder she couldn’t because Zeus had played that one song at least five times last night.

The yellow record, as it turned out, was a George Benson LP featuring remakes of many 1950s classics. She’d become so comfortable with the music, and with being in Zeus’ apartment, that she’d drifted off. When she awoke, she caught him watching her. In that moment, she saw a glimpse of the shy boy who had taken all summer to express his love for her.

“Walking to New Orleans…” Freddie leaned in closer to her dresser mirror and applied a little blush. “I’ve got my suitcase…”

She’d helped him take some of his record collection, his marble collection, and an ancient turntable up to his temporary digs over Ciro’s Place.

The apartment consisted of a small bedroom and bath with a sitting room and kitchen. Chef Ciro Fields rented it out to his cooking students sometimes, according to Zeus. Lucky for him, Ciro did not currently have a culinary protégé.

“Young lady?”

Freddie looked toward the voice in the hallway. “Hello, Grammsie.”

“Did I just hear you singing a Fats Domino tune?” Elsa was holding folded towels and washcloths.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea. I guess. Catchy tune. I heard it yesterday and I can’t get it out of my head.”

Chelsea appeared from around the corner. “She was on a date with a boy, Gramm.”

Freddie rolled her eyes and attempted to clarify. “It was not—”

Elsa giggled. “It’s no use, Freddie. Chelsea is gonna tease you till the cows come home.”

“I don’t care about the cows, Grammsie.” Freddie closed her makeup bag and snagged her purse from the bed. “I just want her to leave me alone.”

She pushed past Elsa Parker and her pesky granddaughter and headed toward the stairs. “I was re-paying a debt. Making amends. I fell on the man and broke his arm, for goodness’ sake.”

“You can’t say that for sure,” Elsa started. “Who’s to say he didn’t break it when he braced himself during the fall. That’s a common injury. Surprised he didn’t break his wrist. We used to see so many kids at the hospital like that.”

“Well, that makes me feel a little better. I was beginning to think I needed to lose a few pounds.” She rounded the corner into the kitchen. They were still following her. Elsa with a stack of linen. Chelsea with a smirk on her face. “Chelsea, I’m trying to change my mercurial ways.”

“Mercurial?” Chelsea exclaimed.

“Yeah, you used that word on me the other day.” Freddie turned to Elsa. “She gets engaged to a librarian and all of a sudden she’s using big words.”

“I know right,” Elsa commiserated. “Day before yesterday, she called me jocose.”

Freddie placed a hand on her forehead. “Juh what?”

“I did not,” Chelsea protested. “It was jocularity.”

Elsa laugh came out like a bark.

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